Does a video show New York Times editor Carlos Tejada, who died of a heart attack in December 2021, bragging after getting his COVID-19 booster? No, that's not true: The man in the video is a Canadian comedian named Stewart Reynolds. The video has been edited into an anti-vaccination clip that is circulating widely on social media and is being attributed to Tejada.
The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by The True Defender on January 10, 2022, under the title "NYT Editor Dies Of Heart Attack After Bragging About The Booster." It opens:
Carlos Tejada was an editor for the New York Times, who played along with the Dems and posted a video about him bragging on getting the COVID 3rd booster shot.
But within 24 hours of receiving the booster and publishing the video online, Tejada died from a heart attack. This was also confirmed by his own wife, who posted about the death and the reason on social media.
This is how the article looked on The True Defender website on January 14, 2022:
(Source: The True Defender screenshot taken on Thu Jan 13 16:02:48 2021 UTC)
Tejada, the deputy Asia editor of The New York Times, died on December 17, 2021. His wife, Nora Tejada, said the cause was a heart attack. The video in The True Defender article attributed to Tejada was created and posted by Stewart Reynolds, a comedian from Canada. Here's an edited version of the video posted on January 8, 2022 (archived here), with screenshots of tweets from Tejada's Twitter account included at the end:
⚠️NYT EDITOR MAKES VIDEO ABOUT TAKING HIS 3RD BOOSTER & DIES THE SAME DAY OF A HEART ATTACK pic.twitter.com/Nl5OSqFkOX
-- Stefanie Kammerman/The Stock Whisperer (@VolumePrintcess) January 8, 2022
This is the original post by Reynolds as it appeared on Twitter (archived here) on December 17, 2021:
HOW MANY SHOTS WILL WE NEED TO GET? pic.twitter.com/4hECKNvvkZ
-- Brittlestar (@brittlestar) December 17, 2021
Reynolds addressed the false claims in a tweet (archived here) on January 10, 2022:
It was brought to my attention today that one of my videos has been edited into an anti-vaccination clip suggesting that I died after my booster shot and that I'm a NYT editor...
-- Brittlestar (@brittlestar) January 10, 2022
To clarify, and as is plainly evident:
I am not a NYT editor
In a January 13, 2022, email to Lead Stories, a spokesperson for The New York Times confirmed the details surrounding Tejada's death:
Mr. Tejada received a booster shot on Dec. 17 in Seoul, the same day as his death by aortic dissection (heart attack).
According to medical professionals, there is no known connection between the two. Claims circulating online that would suggest a connection are inaccurate and misleading.
The New York Times provided a photo of Tejada:
(Source: New York Times)
